 Leslie Wright
Stratford, Ontario, Canada
In 1999 Leslie Wright walked her first labyrinth in a church basement in her native Toronto and it sparked something in her. She received her Facilitator Certification in 2014 and Advanced training in 2020. She participated in a Chartres Pilgrimage in 2018. That same year she was part of a team of people who presented the labyrinth at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto. Leslie enjoys sharing the labyrinth with her community in a variety of settings including churches, seniors’ homes, and on her backyard labyrinth.
Leslie has been described as a passionate and welcoming facilitator. Leslie finds it exciting that the labyrinth can be used in so many ways. When she isn’t exploring the labyrinth, she loves experiencing the various arts, especially photography and theatre. She looks forward to helping labyrinth facilitators connect to find ways to support each other.
 Julia Van Fleet
Naples, Florida Julia has walked labyrinths with her mother since she was 12 years old, and has been using the labyrinth throughout her college years as a modality for grounding and centering herself. She graduated in 2020 with Bachelor’s Degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies, and is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Studies through Lesley University. She is expanding her knowledge and expertise in mindfulness, further integrating it with her labyrinth work. She completed her facilitator training in 2022, and is a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator as of 2023.
Having interned with Veriditas in 2022, Julia focused on bringing the labyrinth to younger generations. Her efforts included introducing mindfulness techniques and how to apply them to walking the labyrinth to students during virtual facilitator training sessions.
Through her role on Council, Julia is actively involved in reaching out to varying demographics, thereby contributing to the expansion of Veriditas’ outreach.
 Rob Hodges
Springville, California Rob Hodges is a cellist, singer, and composer who enjoys collaborating with artists of all stripes. He earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UC Santa Barbara in 2009 after having spent many years teaching in higher education as well as conducting fieldwork research on funerary ritual and songs of grief in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Rob’s ongoing musical interests and explorations involve mind – body – spirit connections to music in relation to healing, ritual, and collaborative improvisation. Rob is a labyrinth designer and builder as well as an Advanced Labyrinth Walk Facilitator, having trained with Lauren Artress through Veriditas in 2017 and in 2022. He operates a small landscape design and installation business focusing on native and pollinator-friendly plant propagation. It was through one of his early landscape projects that Rob came to know the labyrinth intimately, after having installed one on a client’s property for her daily walking / praying meditation practice. He takes profound pleasure in connecting with others through musical offerings during labyrinth walks, whether online or in person, and he continues to grow in his understanding of the labyrinth as an organ of healing, processing, and profound spiritual and emotional significance. In recent years he has joined with a few others to provide soundbath meditations following labyrinth walks on the quarterly solstice and equinox celebrations. Rob and his wife (and collaborative partner) poet, Catherine Abbey Hodges, live and work at The Croft, their home in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, near Springville, California.
 Rob Meyer-Kukan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Rob is the owner of 7 Notes Natural Health, a holistic health practice incorporating naturopathy, massage, reiki, sound therapy, mindfulness and other modalities, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He previously worked for more than two decades as a church and school Music Director. Rob is currently completing a doctorate in Naturopathy at Kingdom College of Natural Health. He is a Licensed Massage Therapist, a Sound Therapist, Reflexologist, Reiki practitioner and teacher, and a Veriditas-Certified Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator. He holds additional certificates in aromatherapy, color therapy, craniosacral therapy, and cacao ceremony facilitation.
Rob’s love of the labyrinth was born out of his personal opportunities to walk in the “times when I needed it the most.” Following those times, a daily labyrinth practice became the center of Rob’s personal meditation and devotional life. He is passionate about incorporating sound into the labyrinth experience for self and others and often incorporates singing bowls, chimes, gongs, and more into the labyrinth experiences he leads. Rob’s walks engage a curious mind and open heart wrapped into an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere, as DEI is, for Rob, a passion and focus.
 Katie Bull
Encino, California, USA Katie is a transformational teacher and retreat leader specializing in ancient contemplative wisdom practices and evolutionary spirituality. Specializing in work with groups, she has built lasting communities centered around Parent Mindfulness, the Labyrinth, Way of Council, Mindfulness Meditation and Centering Prayer. She regularly shares her love of the labyrinth with teenagers in educational settings and has been called to share the labyrinth with communities experiencing grief.
Drawing from her belief that the same Source, innate knowing, or God resides at the heart of all great wisdom traditions, Katie creates innovative retreats that resonate with both the spiritual-but-not-religious participants and those in traditional religions. Her integrative approach weaves together diverse spiritual practices to help participants connect with their inner divinity as well as with the wisdom of the group.
Katie pivoted from a successful corporate career to earn an MSW focusing on group practice. She serves as an Advanced Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator, a Labyrinth Society Regional Representative and founder of Labyrinths of Greater Los Angeles. As mother to two young adult men, she is committed to getting boys and men involved in contemplative practices. She and her husband are passionate hikers and travelers.
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 Vicky Furlow
Greensboro, North Carolina. Over time Vicky has shared the labyrinth with walkers of all ages. She received training from Lauren Artress in 2000 and soon thereafter began her journey as a Veriditas facilitator. Her personal labyrinth practice has deepened her perception of this heart-opening experience as a medium for fostering peace, personally and in the larger community.
As an artist and educator Vicky delights in guiding participants to discover their inherent creativity. She has facilitated walks, workshops and retreats in diverse settings: hospitals, youth camps, parks, churches and retreat centers. She loves to combine the labyrinth walk with visual art and written reflection, as this meditative walk encourages the creative process. Labyrinth meditations are also woven into her SoulCollage® classes.
Vicky was trained as an Advanced Facilitator in 2020. Her pilgrimages to Chartres Cathedral with Veriditas continue to inspire and inform her labyrinth work, which currently includes workshops for local nonprofits and leading the Labyrinth Keepers guild at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro. She is grateful to work within the Council circle to advance the joyful mission of supporting and growing the Veriditas world community.
 Athena Dugan
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Athena loves working with the labyrinth as ritual; dedicating the space, calling to the elements, the spoken word, and through song and sound, creating a psychic queue for liminal space. . A certified Mindfulness and Soundbath practitioner, Athena includes these dynamics to her walks to enhance the processes of the labyrinth experience.
Athena Certified in July 2019, in Stony Point NY, and received her Advanced Facilitators Certification online, in February 2022. . Athena’s first experience walking a labyrinth happened in 2009 as she walked an 120ft in diameter illuminated 7-circuit classical labyrinth at a Spiritual Retreat…Enchanted by the vision and walk, she became focused to experience the labyrinth; whenever she travels, she looks to include a labyrinth walk. .
In 2013, Athena began creating temporary labyrinth walks for public and for private events throughout Philadelphia and the NYC area. . She facilitates regular and seasonal labyrinth walks with the local Parks Association, Retreat Centers, Churches, Schools, and Wellness events. When not facilitating, Athena crafts jewelry and creates handheld labyrinths. Walkers of the Labyrinth is her organization that offers weekly meditations, online and in person labyrinth walks, workshops, and retreats. She is also host of a monthly online blog cast named LIVING LABYRINTHS. Athena is enthusiastic about bringing labyrinth experience to the diverse communities in the Philadelphia area. Her involvement with the local community has resulted in building a permanent labyrinth within the community garden; and for creating an after-school Labyrinth program for K2 and K3 grades.
Athena looks forward to sharing her love of the labyrinth working with, and with support to other facilitators while continuing to build community and inclusivity.
 Donna Gates Hawkins
Seattle, Washington, USA
Donna discovered the labyrinth during an enrichment class at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle. From that moment on she was a strong advocate for St. Andrews to build one on their grounds, a hope that was realized in 2016. That year Donna felt adrift, being newly retired as a Home Health Nurse Manager. She was led to Veriditas and received facilitator training with Lauren Artress in 2017 at Earthrise Retreat Center. She was certified the next year and became an Advanced Facilitator in 2020. With her love of travel she has been to all 50 states, always looking for labyrinths. Donna has facilitated walks for her church including Advent and Lent, and for community groups such as P.E.O. and ALANON.
With the challenges the 2020 pandemic brought for labyrinth walk facilitators, Donna’s plan for that year’s Lenten Walk was switched to the online format. It was well received and became an ongoing weekly walk in the Lectio Divina style using prayers, poems, and lyrics.
Having been diagnosed in 2021 with Combined Immune Deficiency, Donna’s perspective changed as her in-person activities became restricted. She learned to creatively adapt the labyrinth experience for herself and others with immune challenges. She has participated faithfully in the Veriditas Friday Online Walks since they began in 2020. As a Council member she looks forward to supporting fellow facilitators. Donna resides with her husband Jim, son Jonathan and their cat Mike in Seattle.
 Tim TenClay
Manhasset, New York
Tim describes himself as a “Husband, Father, Pastor, Baker, Knitter, Labyrinth Facilitator, Pizza Maker, Bicycle-r, and all-around Love-to-Learn-New-Things-er.” He is deeply committed to recognizing the divine image in all people and is particularly intent on facilitating times and spaces where those whom society and religion often exclude as “other” are able to find grace, hospitality, and belonging.
Tim received his initial facilitator certification with Veriditas in 2020, and became an Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator in 2023. He engages the labyrinth as a tool - a sacred, brave space - where healing is experienced, hard questions can be asked (and sometimes answered), and our inner lives are invited to the surface.
As a pastor, HeartMath trainer, and parent, Tim is a perpetual learner and an enthusiastic teacher. He believes in a world that values question-asking over answer-giving and where the beauty of eternity can be known, at least in part, here and now.
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Veriditas Council Guiding Principles
From the beginning, we have seen ourselves as a spiritual task force. As we come together, we create a sacred space from which to work. We are inspired and guided by Christina Baldwin’s circle model, found in her book Calling the Circle. Our meetings are structured to give time to meditation, labyrinth walking and sharing of personal process, interwoven with the business of the meetings. We honor the wisdom of each member’s voice; deeply listening to each other.
